STREAMERS & PULLING FLIES

FLOATING YABBY

Large populations of dark olive Yabbies of the Cherax Genus have developed in both Lake Jindabyne and Lake Eucumbene as well as many other fresh water lakes. Many anglers suggest that the Yabby has been responsible for changing the feeding habits of trout and other species in the lakes as the populations of Yabbies have increased. In fact in both Lake Jindabyne and Lake Eucumbene you seldom catch a trout with a full stomach when the contents doesn't include yabbies. Bass love yabbies too and this fly is always worth a swim in Bass habitat. Yabbies live around the margins of the lake with the preferred habitat being muddy banks and shallows. They live in holes that they borrow into the banks and shallows and move from hole to hole as the water levels change. Whilst they are sometimes active during daylight hours it is the dusk to dawn that they prefer. They move out of their holes to relocate, to forage for food and to find mates. All of these activities make them vulnerable to fish. Juvenile Yabbies are available from February and trout targets yabbies of all sizes.

Over the years I have experimented with various Yabby patterns and whilst some have looked great unfortunately they have all been “dogs” to fish or more correctly to cast. Generally rather than using them I have reverted to fishing a weighted woolly bugger instead. Well all that has now changed and I now have a Yabby in my fly box, in both a floating and sinking version, that I have confidence in. Whilst this fly is hard to tie it's well worth the effort.

In the sinking form it should be fished with short a leader of around 9 feet on a floating line. GO TO SINKING YABBY VERSIONS

The best colour in the floating form appears to be black with some brown in the claws as tied below but olive is also useful. The floating Yabby is best suited to deeper water over a full sinking line with a leader of around 6 feet.

For both the sinking yabby and the floating yabby retrieve using a jerky pumping action or twitch it in using a figure of 8 retrieve.

MATERIALS:
Hook - Size 6 - 8 3x long shank
Thread - Black & strong
Sieves - Barbules from a peacock sword feather
Claws - Marabou, black over brown
Legs - Oversize black hen hackle
Underbody - Black dubbing or for a more flashy version Estaz Chenille
Head & overbody - 2 mm closed cell foam
Ribbing - Thread
Eyes - Burnt monofilament

A) Wind the thread in touching turns to the bend of the hook. Tie in 5 or 6 barbules from a Peacock herl sword as sieves extending a distance equal to the gape of the hook over the bend of the hook. Tie in a length of closed cell foam that is as wide as the gape of the hook.
B) Tie the closed cell foam don on top of the hook shank all the way to the bend of the hook.
C) Tie in a bunch of brown marabou at the bend of the hook.
D) Tie in a bunch of black marabou on top of the brown marabou at the bend of the hook.
E) Wet your fingers and carefully separate the marabou into two halves.
F) Prepare 2 monofilament eyes with long tag ends. Using a darning needle thread the tag ends of the monofilament eyes through the foam at the respective eye positions. Carefully pull the eyes into position and tie the tag end of the monofilament down along the shank of the hook.
G) Trim the tag ends of the monofilament of just behind the eye of the hook and lightly dub the body of the fly all the way back to just behind the marabou claws. Tie in an oversized hen hackle just behind the claws and palmer it sparsely all the way back to the eye of the hook. Tie the hackle off and trim the excess.
H) Pull the closed cell foam into place to form the back of the yabby and whilst holding the closed cell foam in place use the thread to make 6 or 7 wraps of thread along the body to the eye of the hook forming segments along the body. Hold the foam out of place at the eye of the hook and whip finish and varnish the thread. Cut the foam off neatly just proud of the eye of the hook to represent the tail.

Last modified: 11-Jun-2008.